


You May Say I’m a Dreamer (But I’m Not the Only One)

by NewTimelineNewMe



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Everyone lives/Nobody dies, Gen, No Incest, Number Five | The Boy Has a Different Name, Siblings, Summary may change, Time Shenanigans, Vanya Hargreeves-centric, except for Reginald bc fuck him, tagging as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26020948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewTimelineNewMe/pseuds/NewTimelineNewMe
Summary: She dreams of a beach and an old man. He says he is a friend. He says a lot of other things, too, an apocalypse and a death and a family torn to shreds.She decides to fix it.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy and Vanya Hargreeves, The hargreeves - Relationship, Vanya Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 24
Kudos: 154





	1. Above Us Only Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ask Yourself Now Where Would You Be (Without Days Like These)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036671) by [GinnyBloomPotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyBloomPotter/pseuds/GinnyBloomPotter). 



> There will be lots of wibbly wobbly time stuff in here, so just bear with me. I’m super excited for this fic.

Seven was walking on a beach. Everything was impossibly blue, even the sand. Waves crashed along the shore, and she didn’t see a single shell or stone. There was a man on the beach, and she walked over to him. 

“Who are you?” Seven asked.

The man smiled. “A friend.”

“I don’t have any friends.” She told him.

He seemed upset by this. “Not even your siblings?”

She shrugged. “How do you know about them?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Oh. “You’re not real, are you?”

“I wonder about that myself, sometimes.”

She scowled. “You’re not making sense.”

“Sorry, little Vanya. I try not to.”

She wondered who Vanya was. “Would you tell me if you were real?”

“Would you want me to?” He grinned wolfishly. She frowned.

“You’re not gonna answer any of my questions, are you.” This wasn’t a question.

“Nope. What I am gonna do, however, is tell you something very important.” His face had taken on a serious look. “Number Five can’t time travel, not yet. Whatever he says, don’t let him leave lunch tomorrow.”

“What?” She asked.

“I know it seems like a weird request. But don’t let him leave.” He grabbed her arm, his palm Hello and Goodbye tattoos showing. He was staring at her with intensity. “Don’t let him leave, Vanya, you can’t-”

Seven sat up with a jolt. She was in her room, sunlight streaming between her blinds. Her mom was knocking at the door, and Seven called that she was awake. Shaken from her vivid dream, she got dressed, pulling on her blazer and tying her long hair back with a hair tie she had most likely stolen from Three at some point, and then headed down to breakfast. Herr Carlson was already playing in the background, and everyone except for Four was standing by their chairs, waiting for their father to give the signal to sit. Four came running down at the last second, standing by his chair just as Father told them to sit. 

Six began reading his book immediately, One and Three went back to making love eyes at each other, Four was doing something under the table (rolling joints if she had to guess). Two and Five were actually eating, although Five seemed rather tense. Words from her dream flashed at her.

_“Don’t let him leave.”_

She glanced up to see Father completely immersed in the meal, his attention solely on the plate. Quickly, she scribbled a note on her napkin, _Five, I want to talk with you after lunch._. 

Seven passed it to Six, who passed it to Five. He read it and rolled his eyes, then looked to her and gave her a thumbs up and a smile that looked more like a grimace. 

The rest of lunch passed without incident, the children being dismissed once Carlson had finished his lecture on climbing gear. Seven left to her room, intent on practicing her music. She had almost forgotten about the lunchtime events until Five jumped in her room, startling her and letting a loud screech out from her violin. 

“Five?” 

“Seven. What is it? I have to talk with Father about time travel.”

“Oh, Five, you can’t!” Seven put down her violin, wearing worry on her face.

Five’s face morphed into anger. “And why not? I’m ready!”

“I-I know you are, but-“ But what, a strange man in her dream told her he shouldn’t? “But you know Dad doesn’t think you are.” She settled on. “What if you practiced a little-like a couple minutes, before showing him?”

“Seven, that’s-“ Five the look on his face that meant someone else in the room had made an intelligent point, but he didn’t want to admit that. 

“Don’t tell me you were going to jump right to months.” Seven said, looking at him unimpressed. 

“I-I’m _ready_.”

“Have you even tried to time travel yet?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I-yes?” Seven sighed. 

“That’s what I thought.” Seven said. “How would Dad ever let you if you don’t have any practice?” She set her violin in her case, thoughtful. “I’ll think of a number and tell you, and then-“

“Fifteen.” Five announced, his eyes glowing with pride. That was, indeed, the number she had been thinking of.

Before she could say anything, however, Five collapsed to the ground, and Seven rushed over to him. “Five, are you okay?”

“‘M fine.” He slurred. “Tired.”

“That makes sense.” Seven reasoned. “How far back did you go?”

“Ten seconds?” He said, already pushing her off and standing on his own. “I’m fine.”

“You collapsed.” Seven told him. “It makes sense, you've never time traveled before.” Her tone softened. “I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah, well,” Five squirmed under the praise. “I knew I could do it.”

A knock on Seven’s door interrupted what she was going to say, and she walked over and opened it to see Six. 

“Hey, do you have the-Five?”

“Hello Six.” Five waved, putting his hand down immediately after.

“I-“ Six turned back to Seven. “Do you still have the book I lent you?”

“Yeah.” Seven said, walking over to her nightstand and pulling the book out of her drawer. “Here go.”

“...Thanks.” He looked at Five again and backed out of the room.

Seven looked over at Five. “You should practice some more before you go to Dad.”

“Like you know so much about powers.” Five snapped, although he did look guilty right after. 

“Goodbye, Five.” Seven glared, pointing at her door.

“Sev-“

“I said. Goodbye.” 

Five glared back and jumped away. Seven sat on her bed and sighed. The rest of her day passed with music practice, only stopping when she knew the rest of her siblings had a free period to ask Six if he had any book recommendations. 

That night, she dreamt of an old man who seemed strangely happy to know Five hadn’t left during lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little teaser, next chapter will be longer!


	2. Imagine All The People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!

“One thousand and three, five baby ducks.” Five announced. He shut his eyes, screwing up his face. 

“Yep.” Seven confirmed. “You good?”

“Three minutes.” Five said in lieu of an answer. “I’m getting better.”

“We should stop for today.” Seven said. Five looked at her, and she could already see the pout in his eyes. “So that you aren’t too tired during training.”

Seven could see another apology growing on his lips at the mention of training, struggling to get through Five’s pride. His words from last week rang in their minds, but Seven waved him off before he could actually say anything. 

“Have you tried jumping forwards yet?” She asked. Five shook his head. “We can try that tomorrow then.”

“Or right now.” Five argued.

“Tomorrow.” 

They stared at each other for a second, the tension building. A minute later Five looked away and sighed.

“Fine.” He jumped away before Seven could say anything else. 

They continued to practice this daily, Five never able to go back more than ten minutes or twice in a row. He was, however, getting more endurance-unless he was just getting better at how tired he was, which, knowing Five, was also a possibility.

And then one day, when she offered practice, Five turned white. 

There wasn’t anything new that Seven could think about, but when she asked, he snapped and said nothing changed, he just...didn’t want to practice anymore. That’s all. 

(Seven knew there was something else at play, but she wasn’t sure what.)

So the sessions ceased, and Seven only missed them as it took away her excuse for hanging out with Five for a little longer. She made due-reading with him and Six, mostly, but most of the time Four would come by to drag Six away, and then it would be just Five and her. 

Vanya, she reminded herself, giddy joy rising up in her chest. _Vanya_. She had a name, had been given one a week ago on their birthday. _Vanya_ and _Michael_ read in the library together. _Klaus_ showed up to drag _Ben_ away.

A knock on her door tore Vanya away from her sheet music, and she opened the door to see Fiv-no, Michael. 

“Hello, Vanya.” He said, grinning.

“Hello, Michael.” She grinned back. “What happened with Ben and Klaus?”

“They-Klaus and Ben got boring.” He said. “Ben said that you probably know the library better than him, and I don’t know my way around half as good as him, so. I was wondering if you could help me get a book?”

“Sure!” Vanya agreed. “What were you looking for?” She asked, starting to walk down the hall.

“Astrophysics,” said. He launched into an explanation, most of it flying over Vanya’s head. She grinned at him, just happy to be included in something. Violin was nice, yes, but there were only so many hours you could log before you start aching for something else. If she were really lucky, Michael would let her read with him for a bit, the two content to sit together in silence. Or at least relative silence, Michael often muttering equations under his breath. 

“Is this it?” Vanya asked, plucking the book from a shelf and turning around to show Michael. He grinned at her and plucked it from her grasp.

“Yes.” Michael grinned before jumping away, presumably to not have to suffer through an awkward thanks. Vanya huffed good-naturedly, walking back to her room, which seemed emptier now. 

Vanya sighed and picked up her violin.

—————————————————————

She was back on the beach. There were no shells, just the crashing of waves on the shore. There weren't any other people, no rocks, and the sand was smoother than anything she had ever felt. 

“Vanny!” A voice shouted happily. Vanya twisted around to see the old man, skipping towards her. “Wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“Where is here?” Vanya asked like last time. Also like last time, he ignored her question.

“How’s the numbers? Everyone enjoying their names?” He asked. A thought struck Vanya.

“You knew.”

“Hmn?” The man quirked his head to the side. “Knew what?”

“You knew my name. Before, when you first came, how did you know my name?” Vanya took a step back. 

“I didn’t.” He said.

“Yes you did. How did you know?” Vanya took another step back, and this time the man noticed the action, and he looked hurt. “Are you working with Father?”

The man snorted, then began laughing, harder and harder. He doubled over on his knees, tears rolling down his face. “Oh, Vanny, Vanny, working - working with _Dad_?” His small giggles resumed. “Oh, love, no, not at all. I would rather die.” 

“Who are you working for, then?” Vanya asked. 

“No one! Free country and all that.” He said. “Oh, I’d say I haven’t laughed like that in years, but Dave made an absolutely _horrendous_ joke the other day.”

“Who’s Dave?” Vanya asked. She didn’t know any Daves.

“My husband.” The man told her. 

“But-“ Vanya chewed on her lip. “But you’re not real. And you didn’t answer my question, how did you know my name?”

“Real or not, doesn’t matter.” He said flippantly. “There’s a logical explanation, but you’ll believe what you want to.”

“I can’t believe it if you don’t tell me.” Vanya pointed out.

“People believe in Santa Claus.”

“Who’s that?” 

The man looked scandalized. “My memories get fuzzy around this time. But dear god, I forget how awful-“ He cut himself off, seeing her expression. “Never mind. Just - don’t worry about it.”

The world flickered, flashing black before the ocean reappeared.

“What’s happening?” 

The man winced. “I’ve been here for too long. I have to go.”

“What do you mean-“

“Tell Ben I said hi for me, okay?” He said. 

“What?” But the world was spinning too fast, and then she was sitting up in her bed.

It was three years before she saw the man again.


	3. Imagine There’s No Heaven

Vanya had been stupid, she decided. Michael had hung around her for a few more weeks after they had gotten their names, but now he spent most of his time around Ben, even seeking Klaus out before turning to her. Allison rarely came by to paint her nails anymore, and Luther often seemed as though he’d rather forget she existed entirely. Diego may have started talking again, his stutter almost non-existent after his work with Mom, but he still didn’t talk to her.

It stung, she’d admit, but honestly that was on her, getting foolishly attached to the scrap of affection immediately. Still, a part of her hoped that it wasn’t all for laughs - that while part of their frequent hangouts had simply been because she was the only one who knew about Michael‘s time travel goals, another part was because he liked to hang out with her. 

But if it was, he never said anything, and Vanya found herself spending more and more time in her room, practicing her violin. 

“Hey, Vanya.” A voice, familiar to her at this point, said. 

She turned around to see the man walking towards her, the sand spraying beneath his feet. There didn’t seem to be a pattern to his visits, but even so Vanya could not, for the life of her, think of why her day preceded a visit from him. 

Vanya told him as such, and he smiled. He looked older now, she could tell, the last swatches of his brown hair now a silvery grey. 

“It did seem normal, didn’t it?” He mused. “Well, I have to tell you something. It’s really important, so you’ll have to take great care to remember it, okay?”

She shrugged. The man had only given her one piece of information before, and all that led to was her being disappointed yet again.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He said, placing his hands on Vanya’s shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “There’s a mission tomorrow. Luther and Ben are going to go alone. Ben is going to die. You-”

“What?!” Vanya stumbled back, shocked. Ben? Ben can’t- Ben was the strongest out of all of them. How- Ben? 

The old man frowned. “Yeah. But, that’s why I’m telling you. So you can fix it, okay?”

“How am I supposed to help him?” Vanya asked. “I can’t do anything to help, I’m...ordinary.”

The man winced. “I’m too far away to help. You can do more than me, you have to help. Throw a tantrum, poison Ben’s food, tell Diego to come along, something. Anything.”

Vanya nodded, her face grim. “I’ll help.”

“Good.” The man clenched his fists. “Good. Because if you don’t, Ben will die.” 

“How do you know?” Vanya asked, her terror turning into suspicion.

“Oh, clairvoyance. Knowledge that comes from old age. Fog written on-”

“How do you know?” She glared. 

“I’m from the ~future~.” He said. “Really!” He insisted at her glare. “Look, I’m- I want to fix things, and- you’re just here, and the others aren’t responding, and there’s only so many times I can-“

The man cut himself off with a sharp intake of air. “The point is,” He said evenly. “That Ben is going to die tomorrow if you don’t do something. And as much as I’ve missed him, as much as I’d love to see him again, I wouldn’t wish death on anyone.”

The world flickered.

“I have to go.” The man said. “You have to save him.”

“I will,” Vanya promised. “I will, I-“

“Vanya, dear, time for breakfast.” Her mom was shaking her, and Vanya opened her eyes blearily, disoriented from her dream.

“I’m awake, Mom.” Vanya told her, shoving her away. Grace nodded and chirped more Good Morning messages, Vanya ignoring most of them in favor of tugging on her uniform (which was still a bit too small around the armpits- she’d have to ask Grace for another one again). 

Grace chirped something about breakfast, and Vanya nodded minutely, stumbling out into the hall after her. She ran into Ben on the way there, and her dream came rushing back to her, forcing the remaining sleep from her eyes. 

“Good morning, Vanya.” Ben said, yawning.

Vanya stared at him, terrified. “You have to pretend you’re sick.” She blurted out.

Ben blinked, half-asleep. “Huh?”

“You- You have to pretend you’re sick.” Vanya repeated. Ben stared at her quizzically.

“What? Why?”

“I-“ Vanya blanked on what to say. She didn’t want to risk sounding insane, but the man had seemed sincere. “Just- please. You can’t- don’t go on the mission today.”

“It’s a Wednesday, anyways. No one ever does crime on Wednesday.” Ben told her, still looking at her strangely.

Almost as if his words had been a spell, the alarm went off, and Vanya glanced to the ceiling and then at Ben.

“...Huh.” Ben said. “I should go get ready then.”

“Wait, Ben, please!” Vanya grabbed his arm. 

Micheal jumped into the hallway and started to scurry down to his room. 

“I have to go, Vanya!” Ben urged again.

“But you _can’t_ ,” She begged.

“Why not?” He asked.

“Because if you go you’ll die!” Vanya shouted. Ben stared at her, uncomprehending.

” _Hurry, children!_ ” Shouted Reginald from downstairs.

“I have to go.” Ben whispered. “I can’t disobey Dad.”

“Ben, _please_.” Vanya was close to sobbing.

“We could die on any mission. I don’t see how this is any different.” Ben gently released her arm. 

“No, no, you can’t go.” Vanya protested. Grace came up the stairs, zeroing in on them.

“Come along, Ben, you’ll be late for the briefing.” She urged.

“I have to go, Vanya.” Ben told her sadly. He walked away with Grace, Vanya in too much of a sad shock to do anything but watch as he left.

He was going to die, now, and it was all her fault.


End file.
